Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday his country is in “a state of war” and ordered his new cabinet to spare no effort in crushing the 15-month-old uprising against his rule, al Jazeera television reported.

“We live in a real state of war from all angles,” President Assad told members of the cabinet who were sworn in on Tuesday, in remarks carried by the official SANA news agency.

“When we are in a war, all policies and all sides and all sectors need to be directed at winning this war.”

Just hours after Assad’s speech – which also included a denunciation of the West – gunmen attacked the offices of the pro-government Ikhbariya TV channel, killing three people, SANA reported.